She's mine
by oldmule
Summary: Post 10.1 and Harry's official file of appreciation for Ruth seems to have backfired somewhat! The Home Secretary is doing a little too much appreciating!
1. Chapter 1

"Home Secretary, I would appreciate it if you refrained from trying to poach members of my team."

"One member, Harry, only one."

"The most important one."

"To Section D, or to you personally."

"To my section."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Of course."

"Harry, it was merely a speculative chat over dinner. Don't let's get all Shakespearean about it."

"Dinner!"

"Yes, dinner."

"What do you mean dinner?"

"You know that thing we do… knives and forks, food, wine, coffee and the like."

"…The like?"

"Conversation, Harry."

"Right. About what?"

"About the fact that Ruth is one of our best assets and yet she has remained on the same pay grade for the last eight years, her triumphs remaining unheralded, her successes unrewarded. In short Harry you have suppressed her, failed to value and truly appreciate her."

"And what, Home Secretary, you do?"

"I do. There is _much_ to be appreciated."

"She will not work for you."

"You sure about that, Harry?"

"Yes, I am."

"That's not what she says."

"Excuse me?"

"I 'm sorry Harry but Ruth…"

"Miss Evershed."

"…Ruth, will almost certainly be joining my staff very shortly."

"But I…"

"Come on, old son, face it, you won't be in the job too much longer, why should she stay with you when opportunity calls elsewhere? And a hellishly good opportunity, too."

"Because she's mine."

"Yours?"

"Yes. She's _my_ analyst."

"Is that all, Harry?"

"Of course."

'That's good, I'm glad to hear it. She's a _very_ attractive woman, do you not think?"

"Yes, I do."

"And I think she is enjoying the attention. She certainly seemed to enjoy dinner. Very good company, a little shy perhaps but with spirit. I can imagine she has a real fire in her belly."

"She is passionate about what she believes, yes and moral, she sees things in a way few people can."

"And how do you think she sees you Harry?"

"As ... someone who has disappointed her."

"You might be right there."

"Why, did she say something?"

"No, but I sensed a certain reluctance when your name was mentioned. Anyway enough of this. Ruth will, I'm sure, be moving departments very soon and I do not expect you to stand in her way. So I have your assurance on that?"

"I don't believe…"

"Harry, that was a rhetorical question."

And with that Towers strode off leaving Harry bereft and alone, another loss, this time perhaps one too many.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ruth, I need a word."

She follows him into the office.

"Don't tell me… a new revelation?" she asks with a heavy slice of irony.

"No, I think you know all my secrets now, Ruth."

"I seriously doubt that."

He sighs.

"Well, you know all the main ones, anyway."

"So what do you need to talk to me about?"

"You've been to dinner with Towers."

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me?'

"It was no secret, though judging by your previous reaction to me speaking to him on the phone, it was probably a good idea not to mention it."

"Was it business, or pleasure?"

"If it were pleasure I'd have no necessity to answer that and if it was something else then that something else might just possibly relate to me and not you, Harry, nor this department."

He sits quietly looking at her. She doesn't want to be harsh to him but everyday there's something else, some new part of Harry she has never known and his clawing need to know what she is doing with her life irritates her.

"Did you have a nice night?"

"I had a very pleasant evening, thank you."

"He thinks a lot of you, Ruth. He's very … appreciative."

"I must admit it is refreshing to feel wanted."

"Wanted?"

"Valued."

"You want to feel valued? My god, Ruth, my life's unravelling. It's like being in a maze, every way I turn another dead end, another option lost and I can't find the way out, any way out. The only thing in this whole sorry mess that keeps me going, Ruth…is you."

"At this moment in time you might need me, Harry but I don't know if you really value me. I'm just good old, Ruth."

"You're much more than that."

"Am I?"

"You know you are."

"All I know at the moment, Harry is that this, as you say, is one big mess."

"The mess I've made."

"In large part, yes."

He looks at her sadly.

"Bet you're glad you didn't say yes now, hey Ruth?"

She stares, her eyes not running scared of him.

"'Glad' is not the word I'd use."

"Hugely relieved, thankful, delighted …tick as appropriate."

She walks to the door and turns back briefly.

"None of the above, Harry."

And then she's gone. And he should realise that he's not asked her about the job, about her going to work for Towers, about leaving him, but he doesn't because all he can focus on is her enigmatic answer and if it means what he'd truly like it to mean.


	3. Chapter 3

**Short one!**

* * *

><p>"Erin, where's Ruth?"<p>

"Lunch."

"Lunch?"

"Is that a problem, Harry?"

"No, no problem, she just doesn't usually _do_ lunch."

He turns away.

"Well, it's not as if the Home Secretary asks her out that often, I suppose."

Harry spins back.

"She's with Towers?"

"Yes, she left about half an hour ago. Do you want me to call her?"

"No."

He walks towards the pods.

"Harry, where are you going?"

"Lunch."


	4. Chapter 4

"Excuse me, sir, do you have a reservation?"

"Yes, I'm with the Home Secretary."

Harry had barely stopped. Two strides later he saw them, in a corner… laughing.

When, he wondered, was the last time he had seen Ruth laugh. He couldn't remember and that very fact made him hesitate, but the selfish part of him won the battle and so he strode on.

"Harry..." Towers did not look too pleased, "to what do we owe this visitation? Aren't you meant to be in talks with Gavrik?"

"I'm sorry, Home Secretary but something urgent has come up and we need Ruth's expertise."

"I'm sure Miss Evershed's most marvelous expertise is always required."

Harry suppressed the desire to let his elbow slip seamlessly into Tower's smug face.

"Do you really need me, Harry?" asked Ruth, she wasn't happy with his interruption.

"Yes, Ruth we do."

She sighed and reached for her handbag, but Towers wasn't ready to release her yet. He raised a hand to pause her movement.

"You couldn't ring, Harry? It's so urgent and yet you waste the time to come down here personally. You know what I'm beginning to think, that this has nothing to do with you losing an analyst, this is a great deal more personal than that, is it not?"

Harry glanced, jaw clenched, to Ruth.

"You may conclude what you want, Home Secretary, but the grid needs Ruth right now."

"And you? Do you need her?"

"What the grid needs, I need."

"Well, I'm afraid you'll have to wait, dessert's on the way."

Towers turned his attention back to Ruth, it was a dismissal.

But Harry was going nowhere.

"This is a case of national security."

"No, Harry, rather this is a case of your _in_security, anyway you may as well get used to the idea of not having Miss Evershed at your beck and call."

"What?"

"I warned you, Harry, you have under valued her."

"You're wrong, there's no one I value more."

"Whatever you say now, it's too late."

"I'll be the judge of that."

Ruth cleared her throat. "I am actually still here," she announced.

"Of course, my dear, I mean simply that Sir Harry must accept that you are coming to work for me."

"She still works for me and in the current climate we cannot afford to lose such an asset."

"Hello…" said Ruth loudly, waiting for them to release their bullish locked eyes and seek her out instead.

"I think you will find that this is my decision to make and I am more than capable of making it."

She picked up her handbag and proudly strode from the restaurant, crossing the waiter carrying two desserts.

"Vanilla bean panna cotta and a sticky toffee pudding."

Harry watched Ruth disappear out of the door, he turned back to Towers who glanced at him.

"Well I'm having the sticky toffee," he said belligerently.

Harry looked at the expectant waiter proffering the panna cotta, shook his head and walked away.


	5. Chapter 5

Ruth was walking back across the river to Thames House.

She felt rather than saw him behind her.

"What do you want Harry?"

He fell into step.

"You're the only one I can talk to Ruth."

"I don't think you understand that there's only so much about you that I can keep hearing."

"I know and I'm sorry."

"I'm not expecting you not to have a past. Elena and then Sasha… I could cope with that, Harry …but all the rest… the former Home Secretary, the deaths, the decisions…"

She tailed off.

He walked on silently, knowing he could not defend the indefensible. She didn't look at him but she had to ask.

"Tell me, do you still love her?"

"I though that was the bit you could cope with?"

"Do you still love her?" she repeated.

"No."

"But you did?"

"Yes."

She sighs.

"And how many more are there Harry? How many more ex lovers, mistresses, 'assets'?"

"Ruth, I …"

"Rhetorical, Harry. I don't want to know. Anyway it's none of my business, really. Besides which if you told me I probably couldn't keep up, you must have flit so quickly from woman to woman."

He grabs her arm and stops her abruptly.

"So quickly? So quickly, Ruth!"

"You're hurting my arm."

He lets go but his eyes are ablaze and hold her as forcefully as his hand ever could.

"Oh, yes, I'm the regular Casanova. You know the closest I've been to a woman in seven years? Seven years, Ruth. One kiss, one kiss goodbye. That's it. And if I had to wait another seven years, I would. So don't accuse me, Ruth. Don't dare accuse me, not of that, not with you."

He turns and strides away.


	6. Chapter 6

He stands on the roof and wonders if there is any single part of his life that isn't a mess. If there isn't one single decision he has to make that doesn't mean the death of someone, the betrayal of someone, the loss of … someone.

He concludes there isn't.

And yet he could live with them all, if only there was Ruth.

* * *

><p>She walks onto the grid.<p>

"Good lunch?" asks Erin.

"Slightly forshortened, but yes, thank you."

"Did Harry find you?"

"Yes, is he back?"

Erin nods and glances up, "said he needed some air."

"How did he seem?"

"Low."

Ruth sighs.

Erin studies her for a moment.

"For two people with no personal relationship, you seem somewhat … interlinked."

And for once Ruth is not upset, simply curious.

"What do you mean?"

"Forgive me, Ruth, I'm still getting to know you and I heard what Harry told the Inquiry but to me it appears as obvious as anything is ever likely to be."

"What is?"

Erin smiles.

"Since Harry came back you've barely left his side. It's as if you're both pulled by the same string. Where one goes, the other follows. In fact, I've never seen two people who look more like a couple than you."

"Yes well, if the Inquiry think that, he'll be gone and I can't let that happen."

"I don't get it, it's as though you want to spend all your time saving each other? And for what? To pretend there's nothing going on."

"Nothing _is_ going on."

"But it should be, Ruth. I mean, how long have you been hiding from him?"

"Hiding?"

"Don't tell me you don't think about it."

"That's not significant."

"You _don't_ think about it?" she repeats patiently.

"It's irrelevant."

"Tell me!"

"Yes." Ruth snaps, "I think about it…. always."

"And what about Harry, Ruth?"

"He knows what he wants."

Erin looks at her gently, "You."

Ruth nods.

"He'll struggle to survive the Inquiry, Ruth, you know that. Why should he lose his job _and_ you? It just doesn't seem very fair."

"And what about me? What's fair for me?"

"He is."

"And my job?"

Erin shrugs her shoulders before smiling slyly, waiting for the surprise on Ruth's face.

"Go work for the Home Secretary."

* * *

><p>He knows she is on the roof without seeing her.<p>

She settles beside him, the view seeming to take their attention as it has so often.

"I'd like to work for the Home Secretary."

His head drops to his chest before nodding gently.

"Harry?"

He won't look up.

"Harry?"

She places a hand on his arm. He looks up, unwillingly.

"But I won't leave you. As long as you're here, I'll stay. If he still wants me after that, then I'll go."

"Don't do it out of pity, Ruth, or misguided loyalty. You deserve to have what you want."

"Do I even know what I want, I wonder?" she admits.

"You seemed pretty sure at Ros's funeral."

She removes her hand from his arm.

"Towers can offer you a lot more than I can."

"You're feeling sorry for yourself."

"Yes, I think I am."

"I don't know why, Harry, I thought I was telling you good news."

"Because my life's finished, whatever happens with Gavrik. Yours...yours is just beginning again … with Towers."

"For god's sake, Harry, get a grip," she turns away from him marching to the door, "It's not William bloody Towers I'm in love with, is it?"

* * *

><p>Weather centre forecasting spells of scattered cloud and fluff ahead.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

"Who are you in love with, Ruth?" his voice, quiet as it is, runs through her.

"Not now Harry," she hisses, continuing to type.

He is leant over her chair, his face brushing against her hair, his lips hovering above her ear.

"I need to know."

Callum glances over. Curious and not hiding it, straining to hear.

"Ruth, please."

"Not now."

"Yes now. Who?"

She turns to him suddenly. They are a breath apart.

"You, Harry!" There is no romance in her answer only the frustration he is demanding to know this here, now.

"Me?" the smile creeps across his lips, the smugness shining through.

"Obviously. Now go away, people are looking," she whispers.

"I can't see any people, Ruth,"

"Well you would if you stopped gaping like an idiot, now please get back to work."

For a moment she thinks he is going to kiss her but his head swings away, mouth still curled in a self satisfied smile as he strides back to the office.

Callum isn't shy.

"Everything alright, boss?"

"Oh, yes," is Harry's answer. Followed by a wink.

Callum turns back to Dimitri.

"Told you he liked me."


	8. Chapter 8

**A chance of showers and thundery storms.**

* * *

><p>"Home Secretary."<p>

"Harry."

"How was the sticky toffee?"

"Excellent, yes most excellent, thank you, though I have to admit it would have been more pleasant without only my own company in which to enjoy it."

Harry leans back in his chair, moving the phone into the other hand.

"Yes, well about that…"

"Your rude interruption?"

"About Miss Evershed."

"What about Ruth?"

He hates it when he calls her Ruth.

"I was just calling to let you know that her decision is to stay with me in Section D."

"It is?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it is."

"You're not afraid, Harry and you're not sorry, I can hear the triumph in your voice."

"I am pleased, needless to say."

"Well, if she should change her mind."

"I don't believe she will."

"Right, I see."

"Well enjoy her while you can, Harry."

"Oh, I will, Home Secretary."

* * *

><p>"You did WHAT?"<p>

"He called. Your name came up. I told him."

"And neither of you thought to actually speak to me. You just discussed me and my life. What am I, some kind of commodity! Were you trading, Harry, or bragging, because from where I'm sitting that's what it looks like."

"What do you mean? He needed to know and I told him."

"It was my call to make."

"I'm sorry, Ruth. I didn't mean anything by it."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Alright, I admit there was a part of me that enjoyed telling him."

"And did you inform him that I'd like to work for him in the future?"

"Well, I er… I may have failed to mention that part."

She marches towards the door.

"Ruth?"

"Don't talk to me, Harry."

* * *

><p><strong>But some late September sunshine ahead...<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

It is a gentle tap on the door that she hears.

She knows who it is.

"Can I come in?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ring Towers and ask him."

"Ruth, please."

She looks at him and turns away. Fortunately she doesn't close the door behind her and so he follows her into her living room.

She waits silently, unwilling to be the first to continue.

"I'm sorry, truly I am."

He sits down heavily.

"Quite frankly I don't know which way is up anymore, I don't know who to trust and I don't know what matters most," he looks up at her, "All with one exception, Ruth. And that's you."

She heads for the kitchen in need of the drink she abandoned there. He follows. The string still stretched between them.

"So I can't afford to mess it up again. I'll keep saying sorry as many times as you want but please don't give up on me now," he pauses, "especially not after... what you said."

She pours a bigger helping, her back to him.

"What did I say, Harry?"

"You know ... about how you felt."

"How I felt?" she is not going to make this easy.

"Yes."

"About what?"

"About me, Ruth. About me."

"Oh."

There is a stony, cold, uncomfortable pause. She enjoys it.

"You do feel the same, don't you?" he asks hesitantly.

"What, as I said?"

"Yes."

She turns around, glass in hand, seemingly ponderous.

"Well Harry, I'm not sure. Let's see...do I feel the same as I have done in the last…what?...seven years? Or has everything changed in three hours?"

She walks into the living room. Unsurprisingly he follows.

"How fickle do you think my feelings are?" she asks.

"I've never thought of you as fickle, Ruth, unsure perhaps, occasionally afraid."

"Afraid?"

"Yes, Ruth, afraid of me."

She laughs. Laughs at this gentle eyed, warm hearted man before her, capable of so much, capable of cunning, of calculating. Of killing."

"Not of you, Harry. Only of …. us."

"You didn't seem so worried about Towers."

He knows he shouldn't have said it at once, let alone when the icy blast comes shooting his way.

"Harry, if this conversation is going to continue I would suggest it wise that two names remain unspoken. That was one and the other you can guess at."

"Elena."

She shakes her head and sits down muttering.

"So much for unspoken."

He hesitates, hovers, wondering whether to join her.

And then he sits, he takes her glass from her hand and puts it down on the table. She is about to protest when he kisses her. The protest goes forgotten, the kiss will not.

He stops and pulls back, waiting for the reaction: waiting for the hard, cold slap to the face; or the request to leave; or something, something …hopeful.

She just looks at him.

He's not sure the reaction is any of the above. He's not sure what it is.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," is all he can manage.

She's still looking at him.

"Ruth, please say something."

She picks her drink up and empties it.

And then she stands and walks away.

This time he does not follow.

When she returns it is with two glasses. He thanks a god whom he doesn't believe in.

"Three ground rules, Harry," she sits, handing him a glass, "One, we keep this…us, to ourselves, no one needs to know; two, no more secrets; and three, if there are more skeletons in the cupboard I need to know."

She expects him to agree but he says nothing, his eyes have sunk to the floor.

"Harry?"

"There is someone else you should know about."

She wishes she'd never mentioned ground rule three.

"Go on," she says warily when he fails to continue.

"She meant more than … than the one who's name needs to remain unspoken."

"Elena?"

Now _she's_ said it. But at this moment it hardly matters.

"Who, Harry."

He's struggling to say more.

"I loved her. She meant everything."

He looks up. She is studying her wine with minute attention, seemingly disinterested in what he is telling her.

"She still does, Ruth. She always will. The rest have paled into insignificance along side her. Even though she flirts with other men. Even though she seems to prefer short, obsequious, voter obsessed politicians, to me. Even after all that I love her."

He sees the smile now, the one she's trying to suppress.

He leans slowly forward and she feels his breath on her cheek.

"Kiss me, Ruth," he whispers.

"I bet Towers knows how to kiss," she teases softly, her face still turned away.

"Only babies."

She looks at him.

"And what about you, Harry?"

"Oh, yes, Ruth I know how to kiss." His lips hover invitingly close, "and let's face it, I've thought about it for long enough."

"You must be out of practice then?"

"Don't worry I intend to work on it."

And with that the gap, such that there is, is closed.

And for the rest of the evening and into the early hours Harry makes good on his promise.

He practices very, very hard.

* * *

><p><strong>Weather sunny and warm with the prospect of an epilogue arriving some time this evening.<strong>


	10. Epilogue

**Many thanks for all the reviews, apologises for my tardy recognition of them! Sunny spells ahead.**

* * *

><p>"Ruth, how lovely to see you."<p>

Towers crosses around his desk, takes her hand and kisses her cheek.

"Home Secretary."

"William, please," he corrects gently.

She smiles and nods. He does not let go of her hand.

"I was expecting Harry, so seeing you is a considerable bonus."

"He was held up temporarily and _I_ needed to speak to you. He'll be here shortly."

"Quick, shall we make a dash for it!"

He laughs at his own joke and leans towards her, perhaps a little too closely. It is at this moment that Harry is ushered in.

"Ah, Harry."

"Home Secretary, my apologies for being late."

"Not to worry, Ruth was keeping me company."

Harry steps forward as Towers finally releases her hand and gives way, returning to his side of the desk. He beckons them to sit.

"So Ruth, you said you needed to talk to me?"

"Yes, Wiiliam," she answers softly.

Harry suddenly seems to have something in his throat and coughs violently.

Ignoring him, Ruth ploughs on.

"I believe you have received some rather misleading information," she says.

"Heaven forfend that Section D's intelligence gathering is in question."

This is levelled purely at Harry, whose coughing has fortunately subsided.

"I believe it was merely a breakdown in communications," Ruth smiles and the smile spreads to Towers.

"Then I can only hope against hope, Ruth, that the _mis_information in question, may relate to my offer of a position."

Harry has no doubt Towers is offering her a position, though exactly what kind he does not wish to imagine.

"Indeed, William. It is about your offer."

Towers beams at her.

"Please go on."

"I believe that Harry _meant_ to inform you that for the moment I wish to remain in my current role, but in the future, should you still want me, then I would be very interested in joining your staff."

"That's wonderful news, Ruth," he gushes, "and I have no doubt whatsoever that I _shall_ still want you."

He slides a sidelong look at Harry with a somewhat self satisfied expression.

"Thank you, Home Secretary…"

His eyebrows raisie in mock disapproval.

"…._William_," she corrects herself.

"My pleasure, _Ruth_," he leans back in his chair, "Good, good, I am delighted that we have put that to bed."

"I'm sure you are," says Harry.

"Now, what can I do for you Harry?"

"You wanted an update on the situation with Gavrik, Home Secretary."

"Ah, yes I did, didn't I?"

"If you'll excuse me, I will leave you to it," Ruth begins to get to her feet.

Towers politely stands and reaches out across the desk for her hand.

"Of course, thank you again, Ruth," he says just before, to the surprise of all, he lightly kisses her fingers.

She smiles warmly.

Harry too is on his feet. She starts to move past him towards the door.

But his hand stops her.

His eyes are piercing. His lips meet hers, firm, demanding ... possessive. When he pulls away, his eyes lay claim. She recognises a flicker of a smile before she looks back at Towers.

"Goodbye, Home Secretary."

And she is walking to the door.

Harry settles himself back in the chair, finally looking across the desk. Towers is still standing, his jaw hanging a little loosely.

"The threat to Minister Gavrik appears to have been prevented," announces Harry straightforwardly, " though I believe the situation requires constant evaluation. Unfortunately it still appears no clearer as to the source of the threat, though Ruth is following several pieces of intel that will, I think, give me something."

"I have no doubt she will give you something, Harry," Towers is looking at him, "no doubt at all."

Harry raises his eyebrows, a slight smile flickering around his lips.

"Indeed, Home Secretary."

They look at each other across the desk. The victor and the vanquished.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Harry asks.

"No, I think you have done enough."

This time Towers remains seated as Harry rises and starts towards the door.

"Harry?"

He turns.

"This new 'situation' might be rather difficult for you to explain to the Inquiry?"

"I have no doubt," he opens the door, "but _she's_ worth it."

He smiles and turns to go, pulling the door closed.

"Bye William."

* * *

><p>"Harry, you've just managed to shatter Rule One!"<p>

"Have I?"

"Yes."

They walk in matching step from Whitehall.

"_What_ _was_ Rule One?"

She sighs.

"To keep our relationship to ourselves."

"...Oops."

"And not only that, did you have to go into Neanderthal, stake your ground, claim your woman mode?"

"Yes, I did."

"Is that not rather childish?"

He pauses as they exit the building.

"No, Ruth, it's very simple. _William _needs to learn that he can't have all the toys to play with and that the only one who's allowed to play with you …is me."

He grabs her waist, pulling her to him.

"Now kiss me, Ruth."

"I'm not sure I want to. You've gone rather alpha male."

"Does that not appeal?"

"Possibly, but not right here and not right now."

"You keep telling me that, Ruth."

"And you keep failing to listen."

"Kiss me."

"No."

"Kiss me."

"Let go."

"Kiss me, Ruth."

"Why?"

"Because I'm standing in front of Whitehall with my arms around a woman with whom my personal relationship is meant to be insignificant and the quicker you kiss me, the quicker I can let you go and we can stop making a spectacle of ourselves."

"I'm not making a spectacle."

"No but I am. Kiss me."

"You kiss me."

"No, you accused me of being both Neanderthal _and_ childish, in fact rather mixing your metaphors and allusions I think you'll find, Ruth, which is rather….."

"Oh for god's sake shut up, Harry," she says, kissing him.

* * *

><p>A passing civil servant turns to his colleague, "Who's that?" he says about the couple on display.<p>

"Don't know, but they're making a bit of a bloody spectacle of themselves."

* * *

><p>Towers turns away from the window. There are moments when he really hates Harry Pearce.<p> 


End file.
